Memek Riders

"We are the heirs to the lions and the scorpions. Any fool can ride by a cool stream, only a Rider can cross the wastes"

— Traditional Rider proverb

The Memek peninsula, in the far south-east of Sammerden, is a hard and hot land. Settlements - the Memek Free Cities - can only be found around the coastline where rivers provide enough water to grow some small crops, and the seas provide fish to eat. Most travel around the peninsula thus follows the coast, through great cities and small fishing villages, taking the longest path to avoid crossing the barren interior.
If a hardy group could cross the interior, however, they would have an advantage over almost everyone else in Memek. A rider could cross from north to south in 7 days, not 27 days. If they were carrying an important message, or precious cargo, then they would certainly be handsomely rewarded. It is this calculation which drives the Memek Riders.
They are tough people - smaller and thinner than anyone else on the peninsula - and quite austere. When they are seen in Memek society (and they spend most of their lives in the interior), they are usually dressed in simple white robes, flowing and tied at the waist, and wearing a thick headdress known as a felqet - covering their brow, head, ears, and the back of their neck. These are often patterned in bold colours, and mark the age, clan, or family of the wearer.
The name 'Riders' comes from the common mount of all Riders - small, swift, ponies. These ponies are the source of their speed crossing the peninsula, and are the second most valuable resource to the Riders (the first being water - without the pony, you must walk with the water; without the water, neither you nor the pony can walk far). They are treated with dignity and love - though they must be as austere and hardy as their riders if they are to survive the heat and emptiness of the Memek interior.
Their relationship with the 'Outlanders' (as they call the other inhabitants of the peninsula) is a complex one. Their way of life undoubtedly relies on the trade and messages which pass between the Memek Free Cities, but most Riders prefer to return to the interior when their tasks are done, rather than reside on the coast. However, they do not reject the Outlanders way of life, and there are tales of great parties of Riders descending on cities, dropping their traditional austerity, and indulging in (for them) the luxuries of fresh water and fresh fish.
Not all appearances of a host of Riders are welcome, though. Knowing they are unlikely to be pursued, and with few other economic opportunities, some Riders turn to raiding. Their reputation as raiders does make many city dwellers nervous when dealing with them - but not so nervous that they would decline bottles of northern wine sold at half the price, three weeks before the 'official' shipments will arrive. To improve their reputation, most Rider hosts now have outposts on the edge of Memek cities - guaranteeing their reputation and that the message will be delivered, or the valuables sold. Raiding has finally been condemned by most Riders, and those few who maintain the raiding life now face punitive raids from their own society, not just the Memek Outlanders.

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

Given their harsh environment, there is a strong code of mutual aid and assistance between all Riders, regardless of family or host. While the youth are encouraged to be competitive, this is directed either externally (into success in hunting, or feats of speed crossing the interior), or in relaxed circumstances. For example, there is a strong prohibition against the fighting of duels in the interior. If two Riders have quarrelled, they must make arrangements to meet in a city to settle their feud. There, they will have better medical care, fresh water, and there will be less risk if they exhaust themselves. Of course, cities are not keen to become fighting pits for angry Riders, so such duels tend to be held just outside the walls, near Rider outpost.
This spirit of scrupulous concern for survival permeates every aspect of Rider behaviour. Despite the extreme value of water, each Rider must carry enough water for one and a half people to make the journey they are making - in case they meet a stranded Rider on the journey, and must support them to safety. Anyone, regardless of rank or species, or status must be welcomed in the host's settled camp until they are fit to ride again.

Common Etiquette rules

Upon meeting another Rider (who the Rider is not related to, or is not part of the same host), both will offer the other a drink of water from the traditional tal cup (the smallest cup they carry). The gesture is functionally meaningless - it is specifically designed to ensure that both parties lose exactly as much water as they gain - but it is laden with symbolism. It shows both that the other is willing to sacrifice to support them, and proves that both feel bound by the traditional codes of Rider honour.
These symbolic exchanges are common throughout Rider society - great care is taken not to weaken one party (thereby threatening their survival), while demonstrating that the host would be willing to do anything to support the guest. If the meeting is not just incidental, but the two are to camp together for the evening, then a greater ritual is performed - each grooms the other's horse that evening. Again, there is no net loss in survival terms, but each ritually shows care for the tools of the other's continued survival.

Common Dress code

Rider dress is almost always simple, survival orientated, and austere. Traditional clothing consists of a loose, light coloured garment from shoulder to knee, often with a thin plain surcoat on top reaching from wrists to thigh - both garments are then bound in a traditional thick belt, which holds the hard leather water skin, coin pouch, and straight long dagger. The only usual decoration is in the headwear, the felqet. Different hosts, families, and ages have traditional designs - often in colourful woven cloth.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

The birth of a Rider child is a great event for all those gathered in the host's encampment (where the mother has rested for almost all her pregnancy). In recent generations, the father has begun to make an effort to return to the camp before the birth, but Rider society cannot survive healthy men sitting idle for weeks, and the movement of the host across the interior remains uncertain, so these things are never certain. Regardless of the father's presence, a young man who was appointed to return with the mother (often one of her other children, or a nephew or cousin) is sent immediately from the camp to proclaim the news - if the father is not present, he will ride to find him and bring him back; if the father is present, he will ride symbolically to the highest dune and ceremonially proclaim it to the ancestors and the host.
As the presence of the father is a recent innovation, the birth rites are still focused on the grandparents (from both sides of the family). The grandmothers provide symbolic and real medical assistance, and both grandfathers bear precious water - in one of the few Rider rites where water is used liberally. The father's return cannot be expected at any particular point, so only two days are left between the birth and the naming - decided by the mother.
She will call for the grandmothers to enter her tent, and tell them the name. They will call for their husbands, and tell them within the tent. Then, the four will travel around the camp, telling everyone they meet (who will similarly be bound to leave and tell their acquaintances). In practice, much of the community is often gathered near the tent and hears almost immediately - the propagation continues only to ensure the father and the nomadic host hear the news as soon as possible. Even when the father is present, the rights of the grandparents are respected - the father would be sent out of the tent, and would be told by his mother, only once his father had been told.

Coming of Age Rites

Riders have two distinct transitional rituals - one where they are sent out to the nomadic host, and a later one when they prove their fitness to survive in the interior and truly become Riders.
A child, of either gender, will be sent out to the host when they can ride well for a day. This usually occurs between ages 7 and 10. They will have been trained by their grandparents, and may take part in several practice rides with other children, their grandfather, and/or their mother. They can attempt their Ride to Adulthood as often as they like, but most families will attempt a 'dress rehearsal' (where the child rides for a day with their grandfather close by) to prove to themselves that the child is able, before announcing their ceremonial ride to adulthood, where the whole camp will acclaim their departure, and return a day later. After this, they are sent out to the host with the next rider who is moving between camp and host. From this point on, their survival is (principally) their own affair. They must maintain their horse, their equipment, and their water supplies. They will be supported by the host as any Rider would (and slightly more freely the younger they are) - but it is no-one's interests that the weak or irresponsible try to survive in the interior, to the detriment of others.
For those who survive their trial period after the Ride to Adulthood, there is a further coming of age rite. Perhaps 8 in 10 of the children who ride out into adulthood will still be living in time to lead a hunt. Ten years after they arrive with the host they become eligible to be selected to lead a hunt (they are between ages 17 and 20 at this point). The elders will not select them until they are ready, and in consultation with them - but most have completed it by age 25. The point of the hunt is to prove the Rider's ability to command, plan, and survive a major expedition - actual success in hunting is not required. The Rider being tested will lead the host to a traditional ground where lions are known to live, and command them in the search (and possible chase) of a lion. They are not expected to personally bring down the lion - and it much more important that they are managing water usage than seeking personal glory. Once the area is thoroughly searched (or a lion is killed), the elders will deliver their judgement - a successful hunt is generally any which has not already been abandoned at this point.
The host will then return to the camp in celebration - a week long feast of strong wine (weaker wine would waste water!) and luxurious goat, berries, and herbs. The reward for the successful Rider full acceptance as a Rider, and presentation of the Zolot - a thick braid of goat or lion hair (depending on the outcome of the hunt), dyed deep green and tied to the front of the belt. It is by this sign that Rider and Outlander alike know that the wearer is competent to survive in the Memek interior - it is needed both to undertake solo missions across the peninsula, and also to marry another Rider and begin a family.

Funerary and Memorial customs

The Riders have no place to bury their dead - their nomadic lives do not allow for graveyards, and space near their settled camps is too precious to be filled with corpses that could corrupt the water supply. Furthermore, bodies cannot be carried for very long in the heat of the Memek interior. Instead, therefore, the Rider dead are burned. Where possible, this will be done at the host's camp, with the whole host in attendance, but this is rarely possible. Instead, the dead are memorialised there in three ways:

1. Firstly, their Zolot is taken back to the camp, and tied to the cross beam of their family tent - which will already be thick with generations of memorialised Zolots.
2. While many of their possessions are simply shared to those in need, their drinking cups are passed to a significant relation. This could be a close friend, a youngest child, or some other particularly strong bond. The symbolism is not one of direct inheritance (it confers no other rights), but a post-mortem wish that the receiver stay well, and ever survive the inhospitable interior.
3. Finally, their name will be carved on a suitable stone and added to the cairn of their host's camp. This is an aide-memoire to the host's oral history, where the host will try to remember all their dead for eternity.

Ideals

Gender Ideals

The harshness of the Memek interior does not discriminate between genders - and Riders rarely do either. Men and women both share the hardships of interior trails, and are both entrusted with long rides and difficult tasks for the Outlanders. Memek hosts are semi-nomadic, with a permanent base around an oasis or rocky outcrop, a hunting party constantly venturing across the interior, and individual members off on their own tasks. Both men and women participate in the hunting parties equally and - once they have led their own hunt - are equally entrusted with individual tasks. 
Age, instead of gender, is the primary determinant of role. As men and women slow in old age, and are increasingly unable to deal with the harsh interior rides, they retire to the host's camp. Here, the genders do divide - men guard the camp, fetch water, and undertake any hard labour, while older women tend pregnant mothers (the only other group regularly in camp), and tend to the host's young children. It is the traditional right of a Rider grandmother to train her grandchildren in riding, before they join their parents in the nomadic host.

Relationship Ideals

Riders pair, ideally, monogamously for life. Within the host, there is little tolerance for promiscuity or adultery - it is felt that too much passion will distract men and women from the all-encompassing task of surviving the harshness of the interior. Couples tend to seek for large families - particularly as the climate will claim one in every ten children before their twelfth birthday.
The host will work tirelessly to protect the youngest children, until they are sent out at the age of seven to join the nomadic host. Thereafter, most Rider parents take a fatalistic view of their survival - a child must prove their strength and fitness to survive in the uniquely harsh climate of the Memek interior. There is little callousness in this, but it is the fact of life for the Riders. In recent generations, attitudes have softened somewhat. While the nomadic host cannot carry any dead weight, parents can save the life of a weaker child by entrusting them to a city outpost. They will have a different life there, half Rider half Outlander, but they will be spared the unremitting harshness of the interior.
While monogamy is the norm among the host, there is greater tolerance of relations between Riders and Outlanders in the cities (assuming the rider has not travelled with their spouse). However, children from these relationships would cause great difficulty for all involved - Outlanders do not want to deal with Rider offspring, and the Riders fear that a half-Outlander child would stand almost no chance surviving the harsh interior. Therefore, much significance is placed on the kavot berry. These tiny green berries are found in thorny bushes in the interior. Any Rider venturing to the cities will take a jar of kavot paste (they will not waste precious water on making kavot wine in the interior) - mixed with an Outlander's water or wine, this will make a sour drink which will prevent pregnancy in any woman who drinks in. Given the continuing social stigma of the Riders (and their illegitimate offspring), no city woman - however attracted she is by the rugged survivalist in front of her - will stay with a Rider man before he has served her the kavot.

Related Locations

• Memek Peninsula